Foyston Gordon & Payne Inc Has $5.28 Million Stock Position in A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS)

Foyston Gordon & Payne Inc lessened its position in shares of A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS) by 20.0% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 58,743 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 14,718 shares during the quarter. A. O. Smith accounts for approximately 1.3% of Foyston Gordon & Payne Inc’s portfolio, making the stock its 28th biggest holding. Foyston Gordon & Payne Inc’s holdings in A. O. Smith were worth $5,277,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Management Co. acquired a new stake in shares of A. O. Smith during the second quarter worth $25,000. Isthmus Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of A. O. Smith in the 2nd quarter worth about $27,000. Quarry LP lifted its stake in shares of A. O. Smith by 214.9% in the 2nd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 359 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 245 shares during the period. Waldron Private Wealth LLC bought a new stake in shares of A. O. Smith during the 3rd quarter valued at about $32,000. Finally, Wolff Wiese Magana LLC acquired a new stake in A. O. Smith during the third quarter worth approximately $37,000. Institutional investors own 76.10% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the company. Robert W. Baird cut their price target on A. O. Smith from $82.00 to $81.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Citigroup cut their price objective on shares of A. O. Smith from $85.00 to $78.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday. UBS Group raised A. O. Smith from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $75.00 to $80.00 in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price target on A. O. Smith from $92.00 to $91.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, DA Davidson downgraded A. O. Smith from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $80.00 price objective for the company. in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $84.29.

A. O. Smith Stock Up 1.8 %

A. O. Smith stock opened at $73.89 on Tuesday. A. O. Smith Co. has a fifty-two week low of $70.73 and a fifty-two week high of $92.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.67. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $77.41 and its 200 day simple moving average is $80.88. The stock has a market cap of $10.71 billion, a PE ratio of 19.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 1.16.

A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The industrial products company reported $0.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.82. The company had revenue of $957.80 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $960.36 million. A. O. Smith had a return on equity of 30.09% and a net margin of 14.41%. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.90 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that A. O. Smith Co. will post 3.78 EPS for the current fiscal year.

A. O. Smith Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, October 31st were given a dividend of $0.34 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, October 31st. This represents a $1.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.84%. This is a positive change from A. O. Smith’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. A. O. Smith’s dividend payout ratio is presently 35.79%.

About A. O. Smith

A. O. Smith Corporation manufactures and markets residential and commercial gas and electric water heaters, boilers, heat pumps, tanks, and water treatment products in North America, China, Europe, and India. The company offers water heaters for residences, restaurants, hotels, office buildings, laundries, car washes, and small businesses; boilers for hospitals, schools, hotels, and other large commercial buildings, as well as homes, apartments, and condominiums; and water treatment products comprising point-of-entry water softeners, well water solutions, and whole-home water filtration products, and point-of-use carbon and reverse osmosis products for residences, restaurants, hotels, and offices.